History TabletopGame / Diplomacy

* WorldWarI: InNameOnly. The map borders are actually from 1914, and anything can happen from there.
** WorldWarII: The variants exist.

The basic form of the game (there are many variants) is a [[TakeOverTheWorld Take Over Europe]] scenario set in TheEdwardianEra. Each of seven players, playing one of the key powers of Europe, has to gain control of 18 of the 34 available supply centres (named after cities or provinces) in order to win. Players move together (submitting their orders in written form to the adjudicator/judge or bringing them with oneself at a designated time) and each unit has equal strength. In order to take a territory from someone else, you have to have other units supporting your attack.

->''"I got my buddy. I'll trust him with my car, my computer and my rent. I will not trust that son of a bitch with Belgium, though"''

* NeutralZone: Can be agreed upon by neighboring powers in negotiations (e.g., England and France agree to keep the English Channel a neutral zone as a fleet in there by one is almost certainly a danger for the other while also freeing up their fleets in London and Brest to move elsewhere). Like all other agreements, it's only as good as the nonexistant paper its written on.

* RussianGuySuffersMost: Because Russia begins the game with the most forces and, in terms of actual tournament statistics, it is frequently ganged up on - certainly, when playing Russia, always try to get the Germans and the Turks on side, as if they are together, you are looking at Napoleon rolled into Hitler rolled into Reagan from turn one. [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge If you survive it, however...]]

* SlidingScaleOfTurnRealism: Round by Round.
* StopOrIShootMyself: A desperate player may claim that he will move all his forces to face the one he is threatening, so that someone else will have a power vacuum to take advantage of, while the one threatened will get very little.

Between these moves there is much negotiation. Back-stabbing, lying, alliances etc. is positively encouraged and widespread. There are [[EvenEvilHasStandards some actions though (i.e. altering your opponent's orders, impersonation in correspondence games) that are considered ungentlemanly.]] It is impossible to win the game without making allies, and even more impossible to win without subsequently breaking them.

The basic form of the game (there are many variants) is a [[TakeOverTheWorld Take Over Europe]] scenario set in TheEdwardianEra. Each of seven players, playing one of the key powers of Europe, has to gain control of 18 of the 34 available supply centres (named after cities or provinces) in order to win. Players move together (submitting their orders in written form to the adjudicator/judge) and each unit has equal strength. In order to take a territory from someone else, you have to have other units supporting your attack.

Switzerland is impassable, while Kiel, Constantinople and Denmark can have a fleet travel through them if no-one is in there.

A TurnBasedStrategy board game, and one of the all-time classics, created by Allan B. Calhamer in 1954 and first published in 1959. While playing the game, a practice of dealing honestly and fairly with your opponents (inside the rules of the game) can be described much more succinctly as "losing". Possibly the most intense board game experience ever created, it has incredibly simple rules, is still popular fifty years after its publication, and ''will break your tiny little mind''. As an added bonus, there is a complete absence of any influence of random chance over the game: whatever happens, happens as a direct result of player decisions. Including stabbing you in the back, taking over your entire empire, and driving you out of the game, all because you believed the guy playing England when he said he was going to invade Tunis this turn.

* CelebrityEndorsement: a 1962 release noted it was played in the Kennedy White House, while a mid-1970s release pointed out this was Henry Kissenger's favorite game

* RageQuit: A problem on the judges. Several systems have been put in to account for this when selecting players.
* RealTimeWithPause: Specifically the simultaneous-execution style. This is part of the reason that the potential for gambits and backstabbing for which the game is famous exists in the first place.

** And Heaven help you when there really are mixed genders at the table and willing to flirt to win.

** Often the agenda is simply to [[KingmakerScenario make sure that someone else besides the guy that rendered him incapable of winning himself is the final victor]]. Because revenge is a dish that is BestServedCold.

It is also not unheard of for some bizarre game position to occur, In one forum game, Russia found itself in Spring 1905 with German armies occupying Moscow and St. Petersburg, Warsaw under German control, the only Russian-controlled home territory being Sevastopol and his Baltic Fleet parked in Berlin. In another face-to-face game, an Italian fleet somehow ended up invading Edinburgh.

* WarHasNeverBeenSoMuchFun

* GovernmentInExile (If a player's home Supply Centers are captured, the player can still survive as long as he has at least one SC left. But a home SC is necessary to raise more forces.)

* KingmakerScenario: A player in a weak position may still be in a position to tip the balance between two more powerful rivals. Possibly subverted if the player is able to take advantage of the situation and extract concessions that enable him to get back into contention or even win the game himself.

To bring an example of the convoluted nature of negotiations, it is not unusual for, say, France to engage in coordinated standoffs with Italy in order to fake a war with him, in order to satisfy Turkey, who demanded that France attack Italy in order to prevent Italy from attacking Austria while Turkey and Austria invade Russia together; the only reason France cares about what Turkey wants from him is that he and England are attempting to invade Russia's allies in Germany, and the invasion will distract Russia's attention and prevent him from opening up another flank with England. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to France or Turkey, Italy has already made a deal with England to hold off his attack on Austria until the conquest of Germany is completed, at which point he and England will turn on France. ItMakesSenseInContext.

->''GAME goes to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaQspvtr4U4"''
-->--'''Anon'''

->''"I got my buddy. I'll trust him with my car, my computer and my rent. I will not trust that son of a bitch with Belgium, though"''

* EdwardianEra: The game officially begins in Spring 1901, but the map is closer to 1914. The primary difference is that the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars wouldn't have happened yet, so Turkey would still have [[http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/3100/3120/3120z.htm a land connection to the Adriatic Sea]]. Sweden and Norway would also be a single country until 1905.

* TheEmpire: What everyone wants to be.

-->''"I got my buddy. I'll trust him with my car, my computer and my rent. I will not trust that son of a bitch with Belgium, though"''
-->--Anon

** You can have as many units as supply centres you control. To make new builds, you must have one of your "home supply centres". England starts with two fleets and an army, Russia with two fleets and two armies (although both its fleets have a hard time getting anywhere and its border is HUGE), everyone else two armies and a fleet. Lose all your supply centres, you have until winter to get one back or you're out.

!!'''This game contains examples of:'''

* {{Nakama}}: Don't play this with them or you'll need a new set when you are done. Or take an oath to hold nothing that happens in the game against one another.